Drastic urbanization has occurred in nations that embraced globalization and underwent institutional transformation, especially those from the central planning to the market–‐based economic systems in Southeast and East Asia and Eastern Europe. This special issue is to examine patterns, drivers, and consequences of transforming the urban landscapes in megacities that experienced dramatic restructuring under significant globalization, institutional changes, or cultural influence. A particular focus is to provide diverging experiences of comparable cities before and after a significant socioeconomic change/shock, including the transition from central planning system to the market system. In the transitional economies, this change/shock may refer to a gradual or a rapid transition from the central planning system to the market based economic systems, such as the opening up of the economies of China, Vietnam, and Mongolia or the extreme case of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 or the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The themes include:

evaluating the spatiotemporal changes of urban landscapes in these rapidly urbanizing nations,

assessing the consequences of urban landscape change on social equity and environmental quality of the various urban residents, and

exploring the interrelationship between urbanization and economic development, environmental quality, and social equity.

This special issue will include a range of studies on cities at different economic development levels, culture and institutions that face unique environmental pressures and social equity challenges. Each contribution shall indicate clearly which of the above themes it addresses.